Get Loose

Personnel: Evelyn "Champagne" King (vocals); Ira Siegel, Jeff Sigman, Morrie Brown (guitar); Alan Ross (alto saxophone); Paul Lawrence Jones III (keyboards, bass, percussion, background vocals); Ralph Schuckett (keyboards, synthesizer); Kashif (keyboards); Barry Eastmond (synthesizer); Wayne Brathwaite, Neil Jason (bass); Leslie Ming, Andy Newmark (drums); Bashiri Johnson, Steve Goldman (percussion); Freddie Jackson, Lillo Thomas, Alyson Williams, Selina Robinson, Laverne Green, Romona Glover, Latifa, Regi King (background vocals).
Reissue producer: Paul Williams.
Engineers: Steve Goldman, Larry Alexander, Chuck Ange, Bill Scheniman, Steve Addabbo.
Recorded at Celestial Sounds and Power Station, New York.
Digitally remastered by James P. Nichols.
All songs written or co-written by Kashif or P.L. Jones III, except "I'm Just Warmin' Up" (B. Wyrick).
Personnel: Jeff Sigman (guitar); Harry Lookofsky (strings); Ralph Schuckett (Fender Rhodes piano, keyboards, synthesizer); Andy Newmark (drums); Steve Goldman, Bashiri Johnson (percussion).
Liner Note Author: Michal Bednarek.
Recording information: Celestial Sounds, New York, NY; The Power Station, New York, NY.
Photographer: Brian Hagiwara.
Hot off the heels of her successful comeback album, I'm in Love, Evelyn "Champagne" King was in her commercial prime when Get Loose hit stores in 1982. One of the earliest R&B/funk female vocalists to use the music video medium (for 1981's "I'm in Love"), she was frequently on airwaves in the early '80s with songs found here like "Love Come Down" and "Betcha She Don't Love You." The romantic lyrics and celestial keyboard layerings against a steady funk beat on "Love Come Down" were expertly layed down by Kashif, who would become a prominent R&B producer and artist in his own right. His stamp is also on many of the album's other cuts, though Morrie Brown is the album's actual producer. "Betcha" is another unique number -- a down-paced dancefloor ditty with a rock-friendly chorus and vocal arrangement. Meanwhile the title track is a colorful up-tempo number that hearkens back slightly to 1977's "Shame." Equally appealing are the refined "Back to Love" and "I'm Just Warmin' Up," the album's soothing closer. King sounds fresh and stylish throughout, making Get Loose one of her strongest efforts. [Originally released in 1982, the album was released on an import-only CD in 1999.] ~ Justin M. Kantor